𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐥𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫.

Chapter 2

This is your home now. 

Those were the words I had heard this day, eleven years ago. The testers have been wrong about that.

I am Grisha, my home is where I am sent to serve. 

Today would be my last day within the secure walls of the Little Palace. Today, I was being sent to serve my General. 

I strode through the marble walls with my head held high. 

The greatest honour there is for a Grisha is to be selected by the General to serve as his own soldier. And I was selected for the greatest honour. 

Though I wasn't solely selected. There was Leondi, my counterpart. Leondi has always been the most gifted Healer of my year. I have always been the most talented Heartrender. Two Materialki had also been selected.

As I came close to the dinning hall I saw the colours of red, blue and purple all assembled just outside of it. 

I quickly searched through the sea of faces, looking for Lada, Khristina and Leondi and felt a wave of relief gush through me as I saw the three of them, nestled closely to each other. Lada is  hugging her twin, a farewell, I realised. Khristina, who stood next to them, had a mournful look on her face and rubbed tears away from her eyes once she saw me approach her.

"There, there, Khris. Don't shed tears for what you have not yet lost." I told her as I wrapped my arms around her. She hugged me back, this time her tears spilt down her rosy cheeks. 

"Not once have the four of us been parted from each other that far." Khristina said as her hug tightened. 

That was true. 

Within weeks of arriving at the Little Palace, I had befriended the three of them. 

I had grown with them. 

"We'll be back soon enough. And when this war with Fjerda and the Shu are over, we'll never have to be apart again." Leondi comforted, as he and his twin, Lada, pulled away from their hug. 

Lada then turned to embrace Khristina and I.

Once, the smell of my comfort had been my mother. I still remember her scent, sweet floral perfume with the sour tinge of kvas that used to make my noise scrunch up. 

Now, it was my friends who comfort me. 

"We'll be fine." I whispered, pulling away from Lada and Khristina. 

I am the General's soldier, now. I reminded myself. Do not cry here. Better yet, do not cry at all. 

Right now, I didn't feel like the General's soldier and I hate that. 

But I couldn't help it as the memories I own flash through my head. Memories of younger me running from the kitchen of  the Little Palace bare foot with Khristina, giggling as we stuffed our faces with pastries. Memories of younger me training alongside Lada and Leondi, where if one of us got blamed in class, we all took the fall. 

"Sir, miss, this way please. Your carriage awaits." said a stableboy who lead us to our future. 

☾

Leondi and I sat in silence in the carriage. He looked at me, solemnly. His honey-brown hair glimmering under the moonlight. I stared back at him for some time, feeling the comfort of home, before turning to gaze out into the dead of the night.

We were to meet the General soon. To defend him with our lives if the worst came to worst.

Leondi began to chuckle. His soft laughter replacing the silence. I felt shivers go through my body.

"What?" I asked him.

"It's funny."

"What's funny?"

"It's just, when our instructors told us that the General would be selecting two Corporalki, I knew he'd choose us." Leondi said, his voice flat.

"You mean you know he'd choose me. You're just here because you're my partner in the field." I teased, turning back to look at him. I expected him to grin, but he continued to look at me solemnly.

Silence returned to the carriage after that, and soon, the carriage had stoped moving.

 "I'm going to miss home." Leondi murmured to me under his breath as we began to make our out of the carriage.

I'm going to miss home, too.

"We are Grisha, Leondi. Home is where we are sent to serve."

Before I could even blink, there he was. The General standing right outside of our carriage, waiting to welcome us.